Goddess Of Discord
by Screaming Kittycat
Summary: Eris has known Buffy since she was born as their mothers are friends, she left a year before Buffy's graduation and before Spike first came to town, now she has returned from LA and finally meets Spike, the attraction is there but will it grow as they battle and defend Dawn from the evil Glorificus, read and find out
1. Chapter 1

A young woman was walking through the dark and dangerous streets of Sunnydale. Her wine coloured eyes looked from left to right for any danger that might be lurking in the shadows, waiting to take a large bite out of her neck. "Well looky here, a little girl walking all alone."

"Of course I can't take a step through Sunnydale without a vamp stopping me" the woman sighed deeply in annoyance and dropped her large duffle bag and suitcase, she brought her hands up in a defensive position and looked at the vamp with a bored expression "come on then, you haven't got all night" the vampire growled and lunged towards the young woman, his face changed into a demonic expression, golden eyes shined and canines grew "let's play."

Spike was heading to his dusty old crypt to watch Passions when his heightened senses heard fighting, thinking it was the Slayer he changed directions and casually walked over to where he heard the grunts and growls of his fellow vampire. "Well _that_ certainly is not the Slayer" his baby blue eyes looked at the new arrival intensely. This girl was a skilled fighter for a human, she was dodging the attacks of the vampire and hitting him back with her own "a pretty little thing" he muttered to himself, the girl looked older than the Slayer as her hips were wider and her breasts were larger as well, the Slayer's body only just began growing into a more womanly figure- yes he looked at her, he may be a vampire but he was still a man- hence why he noticed how more well-endowed in the woman department this woman was. The girl had stark black hair tied into a high ponytail and a fringe that framed her face nicely, her skin was pale but not inhumanly so and her eyes were a deep wine colour, something that wasn't common in humans. Her clothes showed that she wasn't actively hunting vampires, she wore a grey hoodie, grey jeans, and boots.

"I really need to get to my mate's place before it gets late so can we make this quick" the woman drawled in a heavy British accent, her tone showed boredom that she should not have whilst fighting a bloodsucker. The woman pulled out a stake and kicked the vampires shin so he would topple over, with a grunt she rammed her stake into the vamps heart and watched as he turned to dust "the vamps here are so easy to kill" she blew a strand away from her face and walked over to her duffle bag and suitcase, with a deep breath to calm her racing heart she walked on as if she never fought in the first place.

"What a strange woman" he shook his head and reached into his pockets to pull out a cigarette and lighter.

"You know smoking is bad for you" Spike jerked his head up from his cigarette to see the strange woman looking at him with a smirk "what? Didn't think I would notice you?"

"You shouldn't have noticed me."

"I've known about vampires my entire life, I know how to spot one" she crossed her arms over her chest "So you gonna tell me why you're standing there watching me?"

"I heard fighting and came to check it out, you're pretty good at dusting vamps."

"I'd rather not be dinner for a vampire if I can help it."

"So you trained in martial arts?"

"Yeah, it's a great feeling to be able to kick ass" Spike chuckled deeply "anyway I need to head to my mate's place before she goes to sleep, see ya around vamp."

"Oi, what's your name?" Spike called to her when she turned to leave.

"Eris Vanzetti, you?"

"Spike."

"Well Spike, see you around" she waved to him lazily as she grabbed her suitcase once more and walked away.

"You certainly will pet."

Eris stepped onto a porch and smiled, it's been years since she had stood before this door, it was lit up almost like whoever lived there was waiting for her. She knocked on the door and smiled as she heard excited chatter and a young voice yelling over and over to open the door "Eris!" a young girl with brown hair jumped towards the ravenette, nearly knocking her over.

"Well if it isn't my little Dawnie" she gently pushed the young girl away and looked at her sweetly "How is my favourite person doing?"

"Great now that you're here."

"Hey I thought I was your favourite person," a girl with blonde hair said from behind the brunette.

"You're under the best friend category, Buffy."

"Come on Eris! Moms making dinner, are you hungry?" Dawn rambled as she dragged Eris to the kitchen where Joyce was cooking "Mom look, Eris is back."

"My look how much you have grown" Joyce walked around the island and hugged her pseudo daughter "I hope you haven't eaten, I made your favourite" Eris gasped excitedly.

"Creamy bacon Carbonara?" Joyce nodded and watched as Eris jumped up and down like a little kid.

"Hey, Eris I put your stuff in the spare room" Buffy walked into the room and hopped onto one of the stools "Sooo did you bring me back any presents from LA?"

"Yes I did but you will have to wait until the rest of the gang comes here" Buffy let out a whine and gave Eris puppy eyes "That stopped working on me years ago" the blondette huffed "be patient Buffy, you told me on the phone that the gang are coming over tomorrow so you can have your present then."

"Do I get a present?" Dawn asked.

"Of course, and Joyce too" for the rest of the night the Summers and Vanzetti talked about anything and everything.


	2. Chapter 2

"So let me get this straight, Dracula was in town and Xander became his butt monkey?"

"Hey! Take that back!" Xander cried.

"You used those words not me" Eres brought her hands up in surrender, though her face remained mischievous.

There was a knock at the front door that interrupted their group chat, Dawn rushed to the door and opened it for whoever was on the other side "Why did you call me? I'm not part of your stupid bloody Scooby Gan-" Spike had walked into the lounge room and saw the woman he saw dusting a vampire the night before "wait you?"

"Hello, I knew I'd see you again" Eris was lounging beside Willow on the arm of their red leather chair.

"You're friendly with the Slayer?" he asked in disbelief.

"I've been friends with Buff since she was born" she crossed her arms over her chest "I didn't know you were chummy with Buff and the gang?"

"I'm not!"

"He's not!" Buffy said at the same time as Spike "I'm still stuck on you two knowing each other."

"Oh he saw me dusting a vampire when I was heading here" she replied nonchalantly.

"You were attacked?" Willow asked worriedly.

"It wasn't a big deal, the vampire was a newborn so he wasn't very coordinated, still hit hard though" she rubbed her arm that was bruised under her long-sleeved shirt "Can we get back to the Dracula thingy, me killing a vamp is nothing new" the group nodded.

"Well there isn't much to talk about," Giles said finally, for most of the night he was rather quiet and only spoke to inform Eris on who Glory was and what she has done.

"How about we talk about this tomorrow, I want to spend tonight shoving junk food in my mouth and watching every movie you have in this house" she looked at the bleach blonde vampire "you gonna join us?"

"And watch some silly romance movie, no thanks" Spike scoffed.

"Your choice" she shrugged and watched him turn around and walk out of the house "what was the point of bringing him here Dawny?"

"How did you know I brought him?" the young brunette asked.

"I don't think anyone in this house wants him around" she replied.

"Got that right" Xander scoffed.

"I called him" everyone turned to Anya "I just thought he could help, he sits in a cold mausoleum all day and does nothing else."

"That's what he's meant to do," said Buffy "He's a vampire."

"Can we not talk about the vampire right now, I'm home lemme do homely things with ma homeys."

"Please never say that again Eris."

"Yes Giles."

* * *

The next morning Eris was sitting at the island in the kitchen smirking behind her cup of tea as she watched the Summer sisters get more and more annoyed with each other as they made their breakfasts "So Buffy, what are your plans today?" Mrs. Summers asked.

"Oh actually Giles, Eris and I are gonna go to the magic shop for supplies for my new and improved training sessions."

Joyce smiled "Oh that's great" she complimented.

"Yeah, I-"

"You can take Dawn shopping for her back-to-school supplies" Eris held back a snort when both sisters looked at Joyce with a mix of shock and annoyance.

"What?"

"Mom, I thought _you_ were taking me," said Dawn, her voice stuttering slightly, she did not want to hang out with Buffy, she would hog Eris' attention and would boss her around all day.

"Honey, I've got the Gurion showing tonight and there's so much to do to get the gallery ready" Joyce replied.

"Really Joyce? You managed to get Ben Gurion's exhibition in this small town?" Eris asked in shock, Eris had studied the Bachelor of Visual Arts at UCLA for 3 years after she graduated, Ben Gurion was an artist she had to do an essay on for her second year.

"Yes, I know," Joyce said dramatically "I can hardly believe it but the curator of the Gallery knows him so he pulled a few strings."

"Definitely butter Ben up, he could get more artist to come over" Joyce nodded and turned to Buffy when she cut in.

"I get that mom but that doesn't really work for me" they duo sisters followed their mom to the lounge room with Eris slowly trailing behind them "we're going to the magic shop, no school supplies there."

Dawn walked up to beside her sister "Yeah mom, I'm not going to Hogwarts" Dawn laughed but stopped at her sister's glare "Jeez, crack a book sometime."

"I understood what you meant Dawn" Eris patted Dawn's head as she walked passed her to sit on the red seat.

"Look, I'm sure Giles doesn't mind dropping you off at the mall afterward" Joyce offered.

Buffy shook her head "Actually, he does mind, this is supposed to be quality Watcher/Slayer time with Eris watching, I told you, she ruined my training yesterday."

"Did not!" Dawn snapped.

"Oh, you know you did too" Dawn scoffed at her sisters commanding yet childish tone.

Joyce sighed at her daughters "Buffy, I realize the importance of your new Slayer thing, but I could really use your help" she walked past when there was a knock at the door, ignoring her eldest daughter's sigh, she opened the door and Riley walked in.

"Morning Mrs. Summers, you look great" he replied in his ever-present kind voice.

"Oh, thank you, Riley" Buffy shuffled over and gave her boyfriend a cute yet seductive smile when her mother left.

"Suck up" she teased.

Riley scoffed "What? It's a nice outfit" Buffy hummed in disbelief "besides, I'm here to violate your first-born never goes over with parents, not sure why" the closed the gap between them and kissed passionately.

"Eewie stop you're melting my eyes" Eris groaned from her seat, placing her tea cup down and sticking her tongue out.

"Stop it Eris, you're older than me, you've done this longer" Buffy shot back when she stopped making out, Riley shook his head in amusement. He had met the sort of adopted Summers last night when he arrived late to the welcome home party, she seems nice and loves Buffy and Dawn like a family so she was alright in his book.

"Hey kid," Riley said when he saw Dawn.

"I'm not a kid" Dawn scoffed and walked away.

"Well, this is a surprise of the nicest kind," Buffy said as she led her boyfriend over to the couch.

Riley sat down "Now it's my turn to be surprised, I thought we had plans today?"

"Plans? We planned plans?" Buffy looked slightly embarrassed.

"Well you said, come over tomorrow and we'll hang and then I said ok" he looked at Eris "You were right next to me when she said it."

"I wasn't paying attention" she looked embarrassed "Xander was being Xander, sorry."

"Don't worry about it Eris" Riley turned back to Buffy "I know it's not the invasion of Normandy but still a plan."

"Right" Buffy looked at the couch like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"We're not hanging today, are we?"

"Giles is on his way to pick me and Eris up."

Riley nodded "Slayer training" he looked at Eris "and watching."

"Slayer shopping, actually but equally as important."

"I have no doubt" Riley huffed amusedly "ok, we'll hook up later" he moved to stand up from the chair.

"Are you mad at me?" Buffy asked with a frown.

Riley shook his head "No, not at all, I'm plotting your death, but in a happy way."

Buffy smiled "good."

"Look, Buffy, I know what this means to you, I think it's great that you've got this new mission, and you haven't seen Eris in three years, I'll see you tonight" they kissed and Riley stood up to leave "See ya kid."

"I'm not a kid!" Dawn shouted back.

Once he left Eris stood up from her spot and moved over to the couch, she sat beside Buffy and looked at her with raised eyebrows "What?" Buffy asked.

"You know it never ends well to double plan, you've watched all those Disney movies."

Buffy sighed and laid her head on the back of the couch "I know I just get so distracted and I want to get stronger but it's taking over my social life."

Eris shook her head "it doesn't need to, you just have to have better time management."

"I can have better time management when I'm your age."

Eris gasped "I'm not old, I'm only four years older than you!"

"Anyone older than me is old."

"Riley is older than you" Eris shot back.

Buffy pouted and looked away "it doesn't count when you're dating."

Eris snorted "Yeah right, go get your pack, we'll wait for Giles on the porch, your heads so thick with boys you need fresh air to clean it up" Buffy scoffed and punched her shoulder "Ow! Don't use your Slayer strength on me I'm fragile!"

* * *

Giles had arrived just as Buffy and Eris were stepping outside to wait for him, after yelling at Dawn to hurry up they jumped into his car and drove off. Buffy immediately talked to Giles about her problem with Riley "I sympathise with you, I truly do but I'm certain that Riley understands better than anyone the importance of training" Giles said in his sort of father slash Watcher tone "you can't allow personal concerns to distract you- Dawn, will you stop fiddling with the radio and sit down?" Dawn rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat, once she put on her seatbelt Buffy continued speaking.

"There's a lot of books on this list, any come in tape, read by George Clooney or someone cute like that?"

"Hmm yes, please let that be true" Eris commented from the back seat, daydreaming of the hunk A-list actor.

"You're entering a new realm, one for which I myself am not entirely prepared, are you ready for this commitment?"

"I'm just kidding."

"I'm not!" said Eris, still daydreaming, she had moved onto the young actor Tom Hiddlestone. A man around her age that she wanted to marry and have kids with but was way out of her league as he was an actor and went to the same school as Prince William.

"Hey this betty is ready, colour me committed," said Buffy only to be interrupted by the car roaring and Giles cursing in British.

"Blast!"

"You put it in neutral again huh?"

"I'm just not used to automatic transmission I-I loathe this sitting here, not contributing."

"You could have bought a manual," Eris said, finally coming back to the real world after her dream Tom left her for a better looking woman.

Giles ignored her "no no no it's not working out."

Buffy raised a brow "Are you breaking up with your car?"

"Well, it did seduce me, all red and sporty," Giles said dejectedly.

Buffy narrowed her eyes in mock anger "little two-door tramp."

Giles continued "I don't know, I just…I was so at a loose end that I found myself searching for some way of feeling more…"

"Shallow?" Buffy chimed in.

"Younger?" Eris offered.

Giles once again decided to ignore the girl's childish comments "perhaps, as I am to be your Watcher again, a modicum of respect might be in order."

Buffy whined, "Do I have to?"

"I'm serious Buffy, there's going to be far less time for the sort of flighty, frivolous-"

"-Hey there's Willow and Tara!" Dawn called out as she pointed at the lovely couple walking down the street.

"Ooh, they haven't seen my new car" the two eldest girls looked at him with matching smirks, they stopped the car beside the two college girls.

"Hey, Giles! Sharp wheels!" Willow complimented as she slowed to a stop.

"The rest of the car's nice, too," Tara said after the quartet hopped out of the car and walked over to the couple.

"Handles like a dream" Giles said back as if he forgot how he much hated it.

"Where are you guys heading?" asked Buffy.

Willow pointed behind her "Magic Shop, I have some charms on back order."

"Ooh, field trip" Eris stopped beside Buffy and wrapped an arm around her shoulders "Like a strange family" Willow chuckled softly and looked over to Dawn.

"Willow, hi," Dawn said softly.

"Hey, Dawny!" Willow gave her a small hug "how's my favourite chess partner? Still leading with your knight?" Dawn nodded silently.

"Hey Dawn," Tara said with a smile and a small wave, the small group huddled together and walked off to the magic shop, Tara and Dawn were at the back, Giles and Eris were in the middle and Buffy and Willow were at the front.

"So Giles and I worked out a schedule around school," Buffy said to Willow "A block of time every day to just to focus on my new Slayer training."

Willow smiled, impressed with Buffy's new interest in getting stronger "That's a work ethic, Buffy you're developing a work ethic."

Buffy frowned "Oh, no, do they make an ointment for that?"

"People gotta respect a solid work ethic, look at you, motivated Buffy, eager to soak up learning, you and I are gonna have so much fun this semester."

"Yeah, that reminds me, with the whole new training schedule, I had to drop a class" the group stopped before the magic shop.

"That's ok, your Slayer studies are way more important" Willow nodded in understanding, Tara and Dawn walked inside but the others stayed still.

"So I won't be taking drama with you."

Willow frowned "What? You have to, you promised!"

"I know, but Giles said that it just was-"

"The hell with Giles!"

"I can hear you Willow" Giles scolded.

Eris giggled "Savage, who know you could be so savage Willow."

Willow smiled "Drama is just Tuesday and Thursday afternoons you can blow off training Tuesday and Thursday afternoons."

Buffy looked at Willow unimpressed "what about people gotta respect a work ethic?"

"Other people, not me, there's a whole best-friend loophole."

Eris moved closer and stood beside Willow to look at Buffy "plus you can never drop drama, I loved that class in high school, it let me act stupid without getting in trouble."

Tara turned to them and called out "Shop's kinds dark, maybe it's closed" the group walked over to her and looked at the window.

"That's odd," Giles said in confusion, he walked to the door and pushed it open, the light from outside shined into the dimly lit shop, illuminating all the broken objects and dishevelled items, the group all walked in cautiously, all on high alert in case trouble was hiding.

"I think odd just got upped to bad" Buffy said softly, looking around with steeled eyes.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Giles called out

"Mr Bogarty?" everyone but Willow looked at Tara "The owner, I come in here a lot."

Willow continued down the short steps, worry plastered on her face "well, maybe this happened really late at night when nobody was-" she stopped talking when she fell over and toppled to the floor.

"Will?" Buffy asked with concern.

Willow turned around "I'm fine, I…I just tripped over…Mr. Bogarty" she shuffled back into Tara's arm when she saw the blood covering the owner's neck.

"What is it? Is he Ok?" Dawn tried to push between Giles and Buffy to see the dead body.

Buffy pushed her away and over to the door whilst Eris knelt down to check the owner's body "Nothing you need to see, go wait outside."

"I don't wanna wait outside, ow that hurts!" Dawn struggled against her sisters hold "you're hurting me, I'm telling" Buffy pushed her sister outside and rushed back in.

She knelt beside Eris "what do you think happened?" she asked. The Slayer always thought that if Eris didn't succeed in art then she should have studied criminology to become a detective. She has an eye for detail and can notice things that most people would miss. Her mind has a way of connecting things together and painting a picture.

"It was most definitely an attack by more than one vampire, the bite sizes vary" Eris pointed to the multiple bites on his neck "if it was one vampire then there would only be one bite, they don't like to waste food. Judging by the dissaray surrounding Mr Bogarties body there was definitely a struggle, the vamps that attacked him were not trying to be stealthy like most vampires. I don't think they cared about what they were doing. They were not interested in Mr Bogarty at all, they were focused on something else and he was in the way" She looked up to Tara "do you think you could check on Dawn, she may have seen the body" Tara nodded silently and rushed off.

"Do you think there was a motive for killing Mr. Bogarty?" Willow asked.

"Judging by the state of the shop they must have been looking for something" Giles commented, looking around at the disarray.

"It looks like someone's put together a new fang club" Buffy walked over to Willow who was looking at the books on the counter.

"I've crosschecked the inventory list and things are definitely missing, mostly books" Eris and Giles stood away from the body and over to Willow "Including _A treatise on the Mythology and Methodology of the Vampire Slayer."_

Buffy frowned and looked at her list of slayer study "oh shoot, was that the only copy?"

Giles glares slightly "come on, Buffy this could be very serious" she put her list away "whoever's leading this pack of vampires is interested in learning more about you, perhaps searching for weaknesses or…Good Lord."

"What?" Buffy asked in a worried tone.

"Well, I had no idea the profit margins on a shop like this were so high," Giles said in surprise "Look at this, Low-overhead out-of-state orders, international…it's no wonder there was never any trouble attracting new owners, places like this is a virtual-"

"Deathtrap?" Buffy broke into his awe staring.

"We-well yes, there is that, but…still" he let Willow take the book off his hands "Location, you know, pedestrian traffic…" he trailed off.

"Come on Giles this could be very serious" Eris repeated, bringing Giles back to the real world.

"So what's the next step?" Willow asked.

Giles talked whilst looking around the shop "Buffy, you should begin looking for their lair straightaway."

Buffy looked at the two girls "I'll get Riley to help me patrol."

"Wait aren't you forgetting something?" said Willow, Giles continued rambling "You're on Dawn duty."

"Oh duty, I gotta drop my sister back at home" she looked to Eris "can you babysit."

"What? Why…fine" Eris huffed but agreed.

"I bet the death rate keeps the rent down" Giles muttered as he looked around the shop, his eyes roamed the glass plinths holding various relics when he notices a missing item "Oh hello, something's been taken from this case look here."

"What'd they take?" Buffy asked as she walked to his side.

"I should think an item of value or power, possibly even…"

"A unicorn" Willow cut off "ten-inch ceramic unicorn imported from Thailand" the group looked at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"Was it valuable?"

"List price…$12.95."

"Which begs the question, what kind of creature fancies cheap, tasteless statuary?" Giles wondered aloud.

Eris shrugged "either a female vampire who was a diva as a human or a fluffy" Willow and Buffy looked at her in confusion "Fluffy is code for the feminine gay guy, you know fairy, pixie, twink…I lived in LA it's home to the Gay community, the gay vampires are the best people to talk to when they aren't sucking you dry, 100 years of being fashion icons."

"I always wondered how you have such goods taste in clothing when I saw pictures of you" Buffy commented.

"Yeup, first time I went to a bar they saw my disgusting clothing and took me out for midnight shopping, they tried to suck me dry straight after but the sentiment was there."

"How many did you have to kill?"

"Just two, they usually come in pairs since they're pretty possessive of their man, they don't like other male vampires hanging around."

"Can we get to the current problem here" Giles called out to the distracted girls "I don't think this is time to reminisce when there is someone or something is trying to harm Buffy."

"Chill Giles we're just trying to narrow down the suspects" Giles sighed at Eris and decided to let them be, Eris was the worst of the three as it was easy for her to distract the others.


	3. Chapter 3

Eris was originally going to babysit Dawn but Buffy changed her mind and wanted her to go patrol as well, she was going to patrol the other side of the cemetery for extra backup so Xander and Anya were babysitting the 14-year-old. She knew it wasn't safe to patrol alone but she had been studying martial arts since she was 10 as her mother wanted her to be protected from the world. Her mother had known about the world of vampires and demons since she was a child as her own mother was attacked by a vampire but was saved by her husband who managed to kill the beast, the family didn't want a repeat of feeling helpless so her mother trained in martial arts and so did Eris, she continued training with her teacher until she trained with Buffy, they had different martial styles as Eris practiced Wing Chung. "What are you doing out by yourself?" Eris turned around and saw bleach blonde hair.

"Oh, hey Spike, Buffy asked me to patrol, someone's trying to kill her…again" she looked down at his arms and noticed brown bags "coming home from shopping?"

"Yeah, just got some dinner" he replied nonchalantly.

"Need help?" she offered, causing Spike to look at her in confusion and a little shock

"Wait, a member of the Scooby-gang, the I hate Spike group just asked me if I need help? Are you pulling my leg or am I hallucinating you?"

Eris snorted "I don't have the I hate all vampires feelings like the rest do, if they're not trying to suck my blood then I won't stake them, that would make me as bad as homophobes who hate gays for being born, if someone hasn't done something to me then I won't do anything back" she walked up and grabbed one of his bags "lead the way."

Spike stood still for a second, running through what she just said in his mind before he shook it away and walked ahead of her "I'm sure the Slayer has told you of what I've done, tried to kill her, her mom, her school, Angel, the world? Ring any bells?"

"Ehh I wasn't there, and whilst I don't trust you because of that I'm not going to judge you on your past, only what you do now and in the future."

Spike shook his head, unable to believe that Buffy's childhood friend was acting like she was goody-goody with vampires "are you on drugs?"

"No I just have a different view on the world, I've known about vampires since I was five because my mom told me about them, my grandma got attacked by one before Ma was born so my family's known about your kind for a while, everyone deserves a chance to be friends with me, even vampires."

"You think I want to be friends with you?" Spike scoffed "No thanks, I don't fancy my ass being kicked by the Slayer when she finds out."

"Not if you don't piss her off, I haven't told Buffy cause she would freak but I have heaps of demon and vampire friends back in LA, some of them are the nicest people with so much knowledge of the world" they arrived at his crypt and walked inside, Eris sneezed when the dust hit her face "Jesus, don't you ever clean?"

"Why? Dust doesn't bother me" he set the bags down on the coffin and took the one in Eris' arms.

"Well your home is supposed to reflect how you take care of yourself, this is telling me you don't take care of yourself very well, if at all" she saw a fresh spider web with a Black widow crawling on it and shuddered "glad you can't die from spider venom."

"I do take care of myself, just lazy" he pointed to his hair "look at it, neatly groomed and trimmed, I do that every day, I take care of myself very well thank you very much."

She raised her arms up in surrender "ok, ok, you do I see that, I'm not afraid to admit your handsome but in this place, your attraction lessens."

"You think I'm handsome?" he said with a smirk. He hoped that by calling her out she would blush and become embarrassed and he could annoy her about it. He also felt smug that he was still attractive to humans.

"Yea and, if you ever take a lady home to feed or fuck she's gonna take one look at this place and run for the hills" she completely brushed off her handsome comment like it was no big deal, she wasn't like Buffy who would blush if she realised she said anyone was handsome.

"Who says I want to take someone home, I'm happy living alone, and I'm not cleaning for a girl."

Eris looked at little sad at the comment but hid it well "no one is happy being alone but I won't judge you, I should let you eat and stalk the cemetery, I'd rather not freak Buffy out if I don't have to" she walked over to the door and pushed it open, turning back to Spike with a smile "See you around Spike, don't let the very venomous spiders bite you" she waved and walked off, leaving a slightly stunned and now very curious vampire standing, staring at where he last saw her.

"She must be on drugs."

* * *

The next morning Xander had told Buffy and Eris what happened last night and that the bad guy trying to kill Buffy was Harmony and her lapdogs, instead of Buffy trying to kill Xander as he had thought, the girls were now laughing their heads off and loudly "Harmony…" Buffy tried to speak but couldn't stop laughing "Harmony has minions?"

"Harmony is trying to kill Buffy?" Eris trailed off into giggles, Eris attended Sunnydale when since she was in the seventh grade and knew Harmony, more like Harmony and Cordelia used to follow Eris around as she was older than them and the popular girl for her grade, lucky for her she wasn't into being popular and was more into her studies and vampire killing.

"Yeah that was pretty much my reaction" Xander replied with a smile.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" Buffy tried to calm herself "It's just…Harmony has minions" she started laughing again.

"And Ruffles have ridges" Xander laughed nervously "Buffy there's actually a more serious side to all this."

"I sure hope so *laugh* cause I'm having trouble breathing" she waved her hand around and took in a deep breath "what is it?"

"well…she did come here to kill you" Xander replied, which caused Buffy and Eris to laugh even louder which also caused Riley to laugh.

"Buffy, come one, they have killed once that we know of, she could be a threat to you" every word that made Harmony sound serious made Eris and Buffy laugh.

"Especially now that she can enter your house anytime she wants" the girls stopped laughing and looked at Anya with bland looks.

"What?" Xander and Anya looked at each other

"Yeah, actually she – Harmony – kind of happened to sorta get an invite" Xander replied nervously.

"You guys can't invite her in, only someone who lives here can…" Buffy stopped when she realized the culprit, Xander nodded solemnly, Buffy had a look between annoyed and angry "where is she?"

Anya replied, "In her room, look, I think she's still pretty freaked out."

"Dawn!" Buffy yelled and began marching upstairs.

"It was an accident, she didn't mean it" Xander stopped Buffy's warpath.

"Well, that just makes it ok then, doesn't it?" she walked passed Xander and continued.

"No but believe me, nobody feels worse than her right now" Xander looked to Eris for help.

"What? I'm not going up there" Eris shook her head "I do not want to pick sides, I live here, that would make my life a living hell, I want to be the comedic relief."

"That my job."

"I was there first Xander, we can share, the more the funnier."

* * *

"That's a lot of weapons for somebody you weren't sweating about twenty minutes ago" Riley commented as he watched Buffy rifle through her weapons, Eris and Anya were downstairs watching the house in case Harmony came back for round two.

"Well that was before Dawn gave Harmony a pass to kill us all in our sleep" she shot back angrily.

"Buff, Willow'll come do a return engagement of her uninvitation spell" Xander comforted "she probably still has the stuff from last week, and bang boom, you're back in the fortress of Solitude, all better."

Buffy shook her head "No, not all better, I mean it's not like Dawn hasn't grown up in this house knowing all the rules, especially the biggie! Numero one-o, do not invite bloodsucking dead people into our home, I mean, please, I would never have Harmony over even when she was alive."

"People slip, Buffy, your mom did," said Xander "she invited in the mas…Dracula in for coffee" Riley and Buffy looked at Xander, noticing his slip.

"Well that was different, I mean, she…he would…she was lonely and…and she didn't know he was a vampire, _The_ vampire, meanwhile, Dawn knew exactly what Harmony was when she rolled out the welcome mat for her."

"She's just a kid" Riley chimed in, hoping to calm Buffy down.

"Will everybody please stop saying that? I was just a kid when I met my first vampire, but I still managed to remember the rules, Eris saw her first when she was 5 yet she knew what to do."

"You had to, it was your job, and Eris was raised knowing about vampires."

"No, no it was common sense, but nobody expects even that much from Dawn, do they? No, she has to be protected and coddled from the big bad world, well you know what? We are doing nothing but turning her into a little idiot who is going to get us all killed" the boys remained silent, disagreeing with her words but not saying anything, no one knew that Dawn was behind the door, listening to everything they said.

"Dawn?" Eris called out as she was coming up the stairs, Dawn ignored her and stormed downstairs, Eris shook her head and walked into Buffy's room.

"She just has to be more careful," Buffy said as Eris walked in "No, I can't be there to protect her 24 hours a day, I just can't."

"Sorry to interrupt but I think Dawn heard everything you just said" the group snapped their heads up to look at her in panic "she just ran downstairs."

"Shit" Buffy cursed and followed Xander downstairs.

"Anya!" he yelled and raced to his girlfriend's prone form, him and Riley helped her up whilst Buffy and Eris looked at the open back door.

Anya began muttering "Vampire took…"

Riley looked up at Buffy "This head wound looks bad, we better get her to a hospital."

"They took her…" Anyway continued.

"Easy, sh, sh," Xander said softly.

"Dawn..."

Buffy put the down the home phone and hurried over to Any "Dawn? What about Dawn?"

"She ran out…they took her…Vampires."

"Oh god, oh god" Buffy felt panic and fear run through her "Take care of Anya, Xander. Eris" the ravenette nodded to her pseudo sister and raced after her, determined to find Dawn and bring her home safe whilst killing every last fucking vampire that hurt her.

"How do we find where they took Dawn!?" Eris asked as she ran beside Buffy.

"Spike should know where the hideout is!" Buffy yelled back.

"I hope so!"

They arrived at Spike's crypt but instead of knocking Buffy just kicked it open and stormed inside "Well, speaking of dishes, to what do I owe this unpleasant sur-" he stopped when Buffy punched his face "Ow! Bloody hell!"

"What the hell Buffy! Why did you do that!?" Eris rushed forth and pulled Buffy back, the blonde turned and glared at her before turning back to Spike.

"I don't have time for banter, where's Harmony's lair?" she didn't punch him again but the promise was still in her eyes.

Spike glared at her "Haven't seen her in months, how should I know?" he got another punch to the face.

"Fuck sake Buff!" Eris moved forward and stood between the two powerful and angry beings, probably not a good idea but she wasn't keen on senseless violence and bullying, even if its towards a vampire "Spike, please, Dawn's in trouble and needs our help" she looked up at him pleadingly, no ounce of anger but instead fear, fear for the safety of the one person that doesn't deserve to be eaten.

Spike sighed "Fine...used to have a cave in the north woods, about 40 meters past the overpass construction site."

"Thank you" Eris stepped aside and turned to leave, only to turn back when Buffy punched him again.

"I was telling you the truth!" he yelled angrily and watched slayer march off.

"I know" she replied nonchalantly.

Eris frowned apologetically "Sorry Spike" she couldn't stay to make sure he was ok but she would return to apologize better than two words, she raced off to follow Buffy, not bothering to scold the Slayer as she would not listen and now was not the time.

* * *

It was way too easy to kill Harmony's goons and free Dawn, as usual when friends and family have a fight they make up and have this sweet moment and soon everything goes back to being the same, meaning Buffy bossing Dawn around and whining to Eris, Dawn nagging and whining to Eris and Eris sitting and being quiet and not choosing a side.

The perfect family...


	4. Chapter 4

Spike woke up when he sensed something in his room, an unfamiliar smell attacked his nose. He instantly became tensed and on high alert. As quick as lightning, he jumped off his coffin and pounced on the unsuspecting intruder "Ah!" a feminine yelp broke through his predatory haze, when he focused on the intruder, he noticed it was none other than the adopted Summer, Eris "Hi" she squeaked, her cheeks were flushed and she was panting.

Spike glared at her "sneaking into a vampire's home whilst he is asleep is not a good idea" he stepped back to allow her to collect her bearings "what are you even doing in here?"

"I…" she cleared her throat "when I apologized to you when Buffy punched you it was short and rushed, I felt bad and thought I would make it up to you by cleaning your…house?" she gestured to the web less room, the dust was gone and the floor was swept and cleaned of sticks and leaves, the holes in his couch were sewed and she even managed to put curtains over the windows "I also brought you some blood mixed in with wine as an added apology."

He was shocked, and a little confused "this is kind of weird to me" he commented, his eyes still roaming around his clean house, he liked it, he was too lazy to clean it himself.

"Yeah I can tell" she shook her head "look you don't need to say anything, It's already done so no going back now, I don't like senseless violence and even if you did horrible things to Buffy she had no right to attack you like that so I am apologizing on her behalf because I know she won't" she tucked a look strand of hair behind her ear which Spike was strangely drawn to.

"You are a strange one, you are surrounded by the Scooby Gang daily yet they haven't made you hate me, you must be incredibly stubborn."

She smirked "yeup, I'm not about to change my views just because someone I care for doesn't like me hanging around vampires, besides I'm older than them all so I don't have to listen to them"

"Huh, I thought you were the same age."

"Nope I'm 23, they're 4 years younger than me, except Anya…she's the oldest...and Giles too" she shrugged and went over to her cleaning supplies "do you want to keep these? I bought them just to clean your house."

"Sure, why not."

She grabbed her bag and walked over to him "well I have to go, its movie night at Xander's, let me know if you wanna hang out or something."

"I don't 'hang out' with humans," he said dryly, hiding his surprised and confused feelings.

"That's ok, I have less interesting friends my age I can hang out with."

"You have friends?"

She looked offended "Before I lived in LA I lived here for my entire life, I have lots of friends here, Buffy and the gang aren't the only people I hang out with, I just don't hang out with my friends very much as all they do is drink and party."

"Didn't mean to make you angry, pet."

She shook her head "it's fine, anyway I have to go, see you around Spike" she waved goodbye and left, leaving Spike staring at his closed door, he was now incredibly intrigued and interested in this strange woman who looked like she genuinely wanted to hang around him despite who she lives with.

"I swear she is on drugs."

* * *

Only five members of the Scooby gang showed up to Movie night, Riley, Buffy, Anya, Eris and Xander, two of them lived there so they did not really count "I wish I had something food wise to offer you guys but the hotplate is out of commission" Xander broke the awkward silence.

"We think the cat peed on it," Anya said on the floor, her arm in a sling due to the vampire attack.

"I do have SpaghettiOs, set 'em on top of the dryer and you're a fluff cycle away from lukewarm goodness."

"That doesn't sound appetizing," Eris said dryly, wishing she bought food on the way over.

Riley spoke once he finished his drink "I, uh, had dryer food for lunch."

The group looked up when they heard a door slam up above followed by loud shouting "huh, guess the folks are back" glass shattering could be heard "no, no, I was wrong, just incompetent burglars" The room suddenly became awkward and uncomfortable "yeah, maybe its time to look for a new place."

"What kind of place would you want?" Eris asked.

Xander looked over to her and Riley, "something a little nicer" he turned to Buffy "Buffy, you've been to hell, they have one-bedrooms, right?" they all looked down and noticed the blonde wasn't paying attention.

"Hey, Buffy" Riley called down to her "how's the book? Full of zippy dates and Zesty names?" he asked.

"I'm fine" she replied distractedly, Riley sighed lightly and placed his hand over the words "hey! I'm enjoying the studying."

"Who are you lately? Give it up and watch the movie."

"I guess it _has_ been a long day with the Crusades, I could take a break from the violence for some…Oh! Fighting" she looked over at the horribly dubbed Japanese Kung Fu Movie.

"Incompetently-dubbed kung fu, our most valuable Chinese import" Xander commented.

"Much more durable than their hotplates" Anya continued.

"I should bring over a Bruce Lee, enter the Dragon next time," Eris said to Xander whose eyes brightened at the prospect.

"Ooooh, you would? I love the opening music" he was like a child in the candy store.

Eris turned her attention to Buffy who started to criticise Bruce Lee's fighting technique "Buff, you're hurting my love for horrible action movies."

"Hey" Buffy turned to the ravenette "You took Kung Fu lessons since you were 12, shouldn't you be angry at this?"

"I try not to think about it" she replied.

The crashing and shouting from upstairs made the room fall silent once more "And anyway you can't blame me for being critical" Buffy continued after a short silence "Willow's the same way when we watch a movie about witches, right, Xander?"

"What? Oh yeah, she's all like 'what's that, a cauldron? Who uses a cauldron anymore?"

"She would if she could afford one, a proper cauldron is super expensive" Eris shot back "you need to pay better attention Xand" the man in question pouted.

They returned to watching the cheesy fighting movie, ignoring the fighting upstairs that went on until the movie ended.

* * *

Several weeks went by, whenever Eris could she would go over to Spike's with blood for him and food for her and she would get him to talk to her. As the weeks passed he got into their regular talks, she loved listening to all his adventures, even about the horrible, gruesome ones where he laid waste to towns with Dru. She would tell him some of the adventures she had, and when she told him that she knew Angel she would join him in insulting the souled vampire. Other times they would sit in front of the Tv and watch Passions, she didn't like it at first but as she continued she started to enjoy it and promised Spike that she would not watch any of the show without him. He didn't mind starting from the beginning as Passions wasn't on Tv now, he was happy that she bought him a Vcr and all the Passion seasons, it felt like his birthday.

He began to see her as a friend, a person that interrupted his lonely, empty filled days and brought him a source of amusement and excitement, she seemed to enjoy chaos almost as much as he did and they sometimes went out and baited vampires and demons before staking them. She was a fiery woman with so much uncontrolled adrenaline.

Tonight, Spike was patrolling the cemetery when he saw Buffy and Eris patrolling themselves. They were fighting when Buffy's boyfriend, Captain Cardboard suddenly appeared, they seemed surprised, even more so when the vampire appeared "Why do I even bother to show up" he heard Buffy say in an annoyed tone.

"Why do we do this again?" Eris asked with an eye roll.

"Spike, what are you doing here?" Buffy demanded, she did not like his random appearances.

"Same thing as you and your cub scout I wager" he turned back to the vampire and broke his arm "Just a spot of violence before bedtime" he got distracted whilst sending a smirk to Eris, this caused him to not see the vampire move to attack, he was punched across the face which made him fall to the floor, he smelt his blood before he felt it.

"You should probably kill it," Eris said to Buffy, the Slayer nodded and raced forward, pushing Spike out of the way, she stabbed the vampire and turned to the bleach blonde, Eris walked up beside her.

"What? I softened him up" he wiped his nose, looking at the blood on his hand.

Buffy was not happy "Better keep out of my way, Spike, I'm not gonna take this much longer," she said in an unimpressed yet threatening tone.

"And do what with my spare time? Sit at home knitting cunning sweater sets?" Riley walked up and stood beside his woman, trying to intimidate the master vampire. Eris was watching silently, ready to step in if it got violent.

"Would it keep you out of my way?" Buffy asked nastily.

"She's right," said Riley "you shouldn't be out here when she's patrolling" Buffy turned to Riley and Spike instantly saw the look she gave him.

"Oh! I saw that" he pointed at her "Looks like neither boy's entirely welcome, you should take him home, Slayer, make him stay there" he looked at Riley "I've got knitting needles he can borrow."

Buffy glared at him "Spike, I just saw you taste your own nose blood, you know what? I'm too grossed out to hear anything you have to say, go home" she stormed off, Riley trailing behind her.

Spike looked offended "Its blood, it's what I do" he turned to Eris who didn't move from her spot "what? It's true."

"I didn't say anything, does it does taste like snot?" she asked with a smirk yet she was genuinly curious.

"No, it doesn't…not like I know what snot tastes like" he added hastily when he saw her smirk turn into a smile "shut up!" he began to walk away, only to fall into a shallow grave "Ow!"

"You suck" Eris shuffled over and squatted down, looking at the fallen vamp "need help?"

"I got it" he jumped out of the grave and glared at the ravenette "you know I hate your Slayer sister."

"Don't worry, she hates you too" she shrugged "she will probably scold me for hanging out with you, _again_ , and Riley will give me his disapproving glare and Xander will go on his I hate Spike speech."

"Tell me again why you hang out with me when no one approves of it?" Spike asked as they began walking to his mausoleum.

"Cause you're sexy and interesting" she smirked and nudged him with her hip. He learned not to take her words seriously, it was merely harmless flirting. It was a regular back and forth between them, they both try to make the other flush, he had years on her but she never blushed, and he was the symbol of sex, well at least that's what she said, so he knew every trick in the book yet they never seemed to work.

"So, Passions is finally back on the telly, and we managed to catch you up."

Eris did a little skip "Ooh yes, can we stop off at a 24-hour petrol station so I can get some munchies? I want Doritos, coke, and Pods" he nodded and walked with her.


	5. Chapter 5

The Summers house was worried, Mrs. Summers collapsed and she forgot Dawn, and Riley had a heart rate of 150bps, neither wanted to sit still even if the doctors ordered against it, and no one could convince them otherwise. They were extremely worried, Eris had barely gone to Spikes since Joyce collapsed, right now she was standing beside Buffy as Graham explained to them how dangerous Riley's condition was. They went searching for Riley immediately, hoping to find him before something terrible happened, when they couldn't find him they headed to the Magic Shop and rounded up the gang "Poor Riley" Willow commented after Buffy explained the situation.

"Could he have gone back to his apartment?" Giles asked.

Buffy shook her head "No, he's not at his apartment, he's not at the gym or the library, he's gone somewhere he can't be found."

"So basically, he's gone AWOL," said Anya.

"Basically exactly."

"Poor Buffy" Eris agreed with Willow and wrapped an arm around Buffy, rubbing her shoulder softly.

"Maybe he just needs some time alone" Xander supplied "Like, I had this friend once who really liked this girl and...he got all worried that she didn't like him back and maybe that made him act like a total jerk, maybe Riley reminds me of that friend."

"What are you talking about?" Willow asked.

Xander looked embarrassed "Then again, maybe he just wants attention."

"Well here's a hot tip for you, if you want attention, _be_ there so people can give it to you."

"I care about you, Xander," Anya said flirtily.

Xander smiled slightly "Thanks."

"Don't be insecure."

"Thanks, I won't."

"Cause I also have this 'friend' and I have it on really good authority that she really likes that guy, your 'friend' and by the by, my friend-"

"You guys, enough!" Buffy ordered "Ok Riley is in real danger here" she forced herself to calm down "Anya, Xander, why don't you check the docks" the pair nodded and left.

"Tara and I can scope out the burned-out school," said Willow "Riley hid there once, maybe he feels it's homey or something."

A thought occurred to Buffy "Homey, you know what else he might find homey in a dank, unpleasant, evil sort of way?" she looked at Giles "the initiative caves, but I don't know them too well."

"I had an associate who knows those caves like the back of his melanin-deprived hand" Giles supplied.

Buffy sighed "I _so_ don't wanna deal with Spike right now, guys really trying to bug me in that 'I wanna shove something wooden through his heart' way."

Willow nodded "he does seem extra twitchy lately, maybe the whole not killing is getting to him."

Buffy turned to Eris "You're his…friend, can you go ask him? He might say yes to you."

Eris nodded "I was going to suggest that anyway, I'd rather not risk him saying no when Riley is in danger."

Eris arrived at his crypt and knocked loudly when she heard no answer she got irritated and impatient, she slammed the door open and marched in "Since when do you force your way in?" he jumped off his bed and walked over to her.

"Since you didn't answer" she shot back "look, I need help, Riley is sick and he's missing, you're the only person who knows the initiative caves well enough to find him, we need to bring him to the hospital so the doctors can get to him in time."

"Is the man with the stick up his ass sick? Is he gonna die?" Spike looked excited at the idea.

Eris sighed "look if you won't do it for me then how about cash" she held up some money.

"Fine, but I want half now" she sighed again and pushed it into his chest.

"Ok, just hurry, I need to head back to the magic shop in case Riley shows up" without another word she marched off, Spike glared at her back, he ignored when Harmony got out of the coffin, he was angry. Buffy was using his friendship with Eris to get him to do whatever she wanted because he didn't like saying no to the ravenette.

"Not this time" he muttered to himself, he didn't care at that moment if he hurt Eris, his need to hurt and kill the Slayer overwhelmed him "Harm get your coat, we're going to go see a doctor."

* * *

Spike stood perfectly still, his eyes trained on an angry ravenette "it's been 6 hours, I've been waiting for either you or Buffy to show up."

Eris glared even harder "what do you expect when you tried to hurt Buffy" she pulled out a stake "right now I honestly feel like staking you" she stormed up to him.

He glared right back "you know what" he pulled off his shirt and threw it to the floor, exposing his muscular chest "do it."

"What?" she looked confused, the arm holding the stake fell to her side.

"I'm sick of this, having this chip in my brain, being unable to do what I was born to" he snapped at her "end this" she held up her stake, ready to take him and end his misery. The moment he looked into her eyes something seemed to snap, without a thought he grabbed her arms and pulled her to him, smashing his lips against her, kissing her passionately. At first, she gasped and pulled away, looking up at him with shock. He thought she would stake him right there but instead, she walked up to him and gently grabbed his face, now it was she who smashed her lips against his.

Their bodies pressed against each other's, hands were roaming everywhere they could reach. He trailed kisses down her neck, loving the mewling sounds she was making, he grabbed her leg and pulled it up onto his hip, her womanhood pressed against his manhood, causing them both to moan together "Spike… I want you" she moaned out breathlessly.

"I love you…Eris. I love you so much" Spike gasped loudly and jerked himself up into a sitting position, his eyes were wide as he recalled his dream, his body was vibrating, adrenaline and arousal coursed through his undead veins "Oh god no," he said loudly, not caring about the sleeping Harmony beside him "no…please no."


	6. Chapter 6

Once again, Eris was out slaying vampires to help control her rage. The whole situation with Spike, Buffy, and Riley pissed her off. She thought that her friendship would matter to him enough to keep only to venomous glares and harsh insults, it seemed it didn't matter to him at all because he tried to kill the one person she loved the most in the entire world. Every night she would go off into the night and be bait, she would slay the vampires and come home with blackened bruises and deep scratches. She completely ignored the Scooby gangs scolding. There was one thing that she hated the most in the world, and that was people using her, betraying her. All throughout junior and senior school, she was used by people to gain popularity, she was the pretty one, the smart one and everyone thought they could gain something from her. It was the same in LA though to a lesser degree as she did not have many friends there, the Angel gang were as the name suggested as they wanted her around just for her, not for her looks or smarts-though her smarts were greatly appreciated.

To have Spike completely disregarded their friendship stung like a vampire bite to the heart, she knew she shouldn't have been surprised considering his history but that doesn't mean it hurt any less. She opened her heart and allow him to place a notch there and he decided to rip it off and pour lemon over it.

During the day, she was helping Buffy around the house as Joyce was too sick, they were like co-mothers. Buffy was grateful for her help but Eris could still see the jealousy she held for her younger sister who seemed to have a closer bond to Joyce than she did. The Slayer had reverted to her 'I wish I was an only child' thoughts, Eris sat back and listened but on the inside she wished that she wasn't an only child, she wanted a little sister she could get angry at and argue with, she would cherish that. Sure, she viewed Buffy and Dawn as her sisters but the bond of blood wasn't there, the instincts siblings seem to share wasn't there for her.

Buffy had come home and told her about the security guard she had talked to the night before, the same man was now insane and sprouting off warnings to the Slayer about her family being in danger, warning signs flashed in Eris' mind "Could there be someone making Joyce like this?" she asked in fear.

"I think so, we should go back to the abandoned building, see if somethings in there" Eris nodded and headed to the Magic shop to speak to Giles.

* * *

Buffy sat down and closed her eyes, concentrating, forcing her mind to leave her body, to connect with the other side. She felt nothing at first but she was patient, then she felt a cold chill wash over her. She left her room and walked downstairs, looking for her mother. She saw her and spoke her to her, disappointed that she found nothing, instead she saw Dawn disappearing on all the photos they took together, almost like she was an illusion, never meant to be there in the first place. Eris walked in and Buffy turned to her, she narrowed her eyes when she saw that Eris looked completely different. Her skin was an ashen purple, her eyes were glowing bright yellow, her hair seemed to wave around her like she was underwater, her body was surrounded by a white light, trapping the shadows that swarmed around her. Eris asked her if the spell worked, Buffy nodded silently and turned to the images once more, completely forgetting Eris' strange form, like someone forced her to forget it.

She wandered up to her sister's room and opened the floor, she walked into her room and saw it flashing, reverting to its original state before Dawn came to live there. She turned and saw her sister, flashing in and out of existence, it was at that moment that she realized something that changed her life.

Dawn was not her sister.

* * *

Eris and Buffy left the house, they were going to get away from Dawn so Buffy could explain what she saw. When they were out on the lawn Buffy suddenly stopped "What is it?" Eris asked with a tilt of her head.

Without saying a word, Buffy marched over to a tree and grabbed whatever was behind it, she yanked and out came a bleach blonde vampire that neither of the girls wanted to see "Spike" Eris walked up and crossed her arms, looked annoyed.

"Hi Eris...Buffy," he said, looking at Eris more intently than the Slayer.

Buffy sighed "Don't take this the wrong way but-" Buffy pulled back then punched Spike right on the nose, this time Eris did not stop her "What are you doing here? Five words or less."

Spike glared at the blonde "Out. For. A. Walk…Bitch" he held up five fingers.

"Out for a walk outside our house" Eris glared "No one has time for this William."

Spike's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed "On your Merry way then" he scoffed "You know, contrary to one self-involved, your house happens to be directly between…parts and other parts of this town, and I would pass by in the day but I'm outgrowing my whole bursting into flames fetish."

Buffy shook her head "Fine, keep going, I'll give you a break."

"Yeah ok lemme guess, you won't kill me? Ooooh, oh crowd-pleasing threats and swagger routine to impress the older sis, outstandingly original" Buffy glared "I'm just passing through, satisfied?" neither looked impressed or satisfied "You know, I really hope so, cause god knows you need some satisfaction in life besides shagging Captain Cardboard" he turned to Eris "and being single and hating partying" Eris looked offended "you know I never really liked you anyway and and and you have stupid hair" with that he walked away, leaving the girls confused.

"What?" Eris said, watching the strange vampire leave.

"I don't know," Buffy said as her eyes looked down and saw the small pile of used cigarettes, which meant Spike was there for quite some time "We need to go" Eris nodded and followed the blonde.

They arrived at the abandoned warehouse, stakes at the ready. They each had a flashlight in their other hand as they wandered into the hall and noticed a metal door completely torn off the wall and on the floor, it was dented and looked like someone punched it so hard it busted off "What could have done this?" Eris asked hesitantly, she did not want to go against whoever broke the door.

"I really don't want to find out-" she stopped when she noticed something "Eris, a person" they rushed to the mans side and Buffy knelt down to take off his bindings, Eris knelt in front of him, looking at his swollen face "hey, it was you who planted the Dagon sphere right?" the man didn't reply "I got it, don't worry, I'm stronger than I look" neither of the girls noticed a woman in a red dress sneaking up behind them, well, that's what the woman thought. Instead, Buffy turned around and wrapped her hand around the woman's throat "I'm not stupid" the woman scoffed and ripped Buffy's hand away, without using any strength she punched Buffy so hard she flew across the room and hit the wall behind her. Eris gasped and took action, punching the woman in the solar plexus. She managed to get a few hits before the woman repeated her movement, Eris went flying and cracked the wall even further. Buffy was in pain but she could handle it, being the Slayer, Eris, on the other hand, was human, the moment she hit the wall she blacked out. Buffy was glad that Eris was knocked out before she could feel the pain, she would not be able to handle hearing the elder woman's screams.

Buffy turned and looked at the smug woman "You sure about that last part?"

The same thing happened to Buffy again, she went to attack the red-dressed woman only to be smacked against the wall "And another thing, I just want you to know" the woman grabbed Buffy and began to beat her up "This whole beat you out of life thing I'm doing is wasting valuable time I'm not going to get back", they continued to battle, Buffy got the upper hand for a few short minutes but the red woman got the upper hand back "You know I just noticed something, you have super powers, that is so cool, can you fly?" the woman grabbed her and threw her across the room, she landed beside the unconscious Eris "Hey look it's my sister" the woman said, looking at the ravenette "well more like mother but that's kind of weird" Buffy got up and picked up Eris, not wanting the woman to hurt her anymore. With lightning precision, she threw Eris out the window and raced to the man, she grabbed him and they both went out the window. She carried Eris whilst the old man waddled beside her.

The man collapsed at the fence, he began telling Buffy about this key and how she needed to protect it, the key was once energy before it was turned into something that Buffy would protect with her life.

Dawn.

* * *

Eris was covered in bruises and her muscles ached more than she ever felt before in her life, when she woke up she was lying in her bed, head throbbing along with the rest of her. Buffy was taking care of her. Once she was awake she explained what happened…Including what Dawn was, she wouldn't tell the others, they wouldn't understand, on the other hand, Buffy trusted Eris more than anyone in the world.

Eris agreed to keep it silent and to protect Dawn with her life as well as Giles. None of the three wanted to tell Dawn, they talked about the woman, this beast and how she might know what Dawn was. They all had mixed feelings, all these memories they had of Dawn were fake and yet…their feelings were so strong, Giles agreed to keep it silent and to research what this woman was.

At night Eris crawled out of her bed and over to her window to let some air in, as she looked out she noticed a small orange flame in the backyard, knowing exactly who that was she sighed heavily and waddled downstairs. Her body creaked like an old woman but she was determined to speak her mind to Captain Peroxide. Once she was downstairs and undetected by the Summers she walked over to him "stop hiding Spike I could see you from my window" after a moment the bleach blonde stepped out, he finished his smoke and threw it on the ground "What are you doing here?"

Spike shrugged "Going out for a stroll."

"You said that last night and that only works if you're in the front yard, not the back" she crossed her arms but hissed and dropped them back down.

Spike frown "are you ok?" he asked, feeling concerned.

"Not that you really care but no, I got beat up by a woman who is stronger than Buff…that and I apparently got thrown out a window" she rolled her neck slightly.

Spike narrowed his eyes "Look I've hated Buffy for longer than I have known you, it's hard to just give that up."

"I'm going to be brutal here, did you become friends with me just to get to Buffy?" there was no hesitation in her eyes, only anger and sadness.

He looked offended "No! I may hate Buffy but I would never do that!" he fell silent for a moment "I really hurt you didn't I?"

"Yes you most certainly did, I hate being used and betrayed. That is the one thing I hate most in this world."

"I know the feeling…" he muttered, "if it means anything I'm sorry."

She looked into his icy blue eyes that she was so attracted to for a few moments. When she found what she was looking for she let out a sigh "fine…I forgive you, I got rid of most of my anger anyway" she went to punch his shoulder but when a jolt of pain went through her she stopped "just…if you do it again I'm going to cut off your balls."

"A little harsh don't you think?" she chuckled at that "you should head inside, the cold is not good for your wounds" she nodded and waved to him, he watched her leave and continued to watch her as she went into her room, once she turned off her light he leant against the tree and watched her room until he had to leave.


	7. Chapter 7

Spike was dreaming once again of Eris, he was fighting with her, both going all out, punching and kicking as hard as they could. He was excited and aroused as she landed punch after punch on him. The moment she ran at him he broke out of his dreaming just as he reached his climax, he looked down and remembered he was having sex with Harmony "what are you thinking?" she said between pants.

The strong, crazy ravenette flashed through his mind before he said, "all about you baby" he hid his head in her neck.

"Naww, you're my little lamb" she pulled him into her arms and held onto him tightly, not realizing that he was still thinking about Eris.

* * *

It was awkward at the magic shop, Tara's family had come to town for her birthday, she felt very awkward which made everyone else feel uncomfortable as well. Eris was forced to stay home as too much movement would take up too much energy that should be spent healing.

Eris stood behind the wall and watched as Riley got frustrated at Buffy keeping secrets, once he left – more like stormed out – she walked out from her hiding spot and waddled over to Buff, she sat beside her and gave her a sympathetic look "you know secrets are terrible for a relationship."

Buffy rubbed her temples "I know but…what choice do I have, no one can find out about-" she stopped and lowered her voice "what Dawn is."

"I know and I wish I could help you, let's just hope that your relationship stands after this is all over" she rubbed Buffy's arm comfortingly "now, I am finally strong enough to walk so we should head to the Magic shop, get the gang together and figure something out."

"I'll go get Dawn."

* * *

Spike was once again sitting on his couch, stroking the mannequin he made that was to resemble Eris. The door slammed open and Harmony waltzed in, he threw the mannequin to the floor and turned to Harmony "Hi baby!" Harmony said cheerfully, closing the door behind her.

"Hello, sweetbreads, have fun?" he asked, not really interested in the answer.

"Oh it was so exciting, you wouldn't believe it, I went to April Fool's and absolutely everything was on sale."

"You paid for it?" he asked incredulously.

Harmony scoffed "oh no, I just killed the clerk, still, a bargain's a bargain" she went rifling through her clothing bags "oh, I ran into Carol Beets, you know? She sired Brandon, Brandon from the sewer gang? And she said the Lei-Ach demon was recruiting his brethren to kill the Slayer!"

That got Spike's attention "How's that?"

"Apparently, he got recruited by some big nether-wig and now he's on a mission" Spike looked away, an intense look on his face, "you think they might actually do it? Kill her?"

"God that would be…pleasant" it truly would be but that was not what was on his mind, if the Lei-Ach demon was hunting the Slayer then Eris would be beside her to protect her, meaning she would be endangered, meaning he could go save her, he could see her closer than looking through her window at night.

"Well, if they do, I think we should do something," Harmony said as Spike jumped up from his chair "Like a gift basket or something" she looked over to her lover and noticed he was getting his jacket ready "where are you going?"

"To get a decent seat" he pulled on his jacket "If the Slayer's gonna die, I'm gonna watch" he rushed out of the crypt, hurrying to the Magic Shop so he could watch over Eris.

The group were still demon hunting at the magic shop, going over the same books they did earlier that day, hoping that they missed something. Buffy was in the training room, training as per usual, Eris was in the storage room, pulling at the musty old books that no one has touched since the store re-opened. She heard banging and shouting and rushed out of the room to see nothing attacking Xander, yet he was still being hurt "Go help Buffy!" Giles shouted, she nodded and raced to the training room, she saw Buffy pinned to the floor by an invisible force.

"Get off her!" she shouted as she kicked the empty space above her sister, she heard a grunt and what she hoped was a body landing on the floor. Buffy jumped up but was engaged in another fight. Eris prepared to fight herself in case there was something else. She was correct when she was tripped over, a body pinning her to the floor, she struggled against its strength. Suddenly, the weight disappeared, like it was kicked off her, she heard it beside her and punched it repeatedly, Buffy had managed to defeat her own invisible monster and rushed to her side "We need to help the others!" Buffy nodded in agreement and they both rushed out the door and into the shop, they saw everyone struggling against their own invisible monster.

"How many are there?" Giles asked in a panic.

"I've been injured once this month!" Anya screamed angrily, raising her statue threateningly.

"Shut up!" ordered Buffy, she stood perfectly still, hoping to hear the monster.

"Buffy behind you!" she heard Tara shout, she was thrown over the table before she could do anything.

Buffy jumped up and looked around frantically "Tara, where is it? Can you see it?" she was punched in the face.

"Blind Cadria, lift your veil, give evil form and break my spell" Tara muttered to herself, before everyone's eyes, the demon materialized, Buffy sprung into action, attacking the demon that hit Tara. The witch's family walked in and distracted the demon, this gave Buffy time to kill the demon by breaking its neck on the stairs.

"What in God's name is that?" Tara's father asked.

"Lei-Ach demon, fun little buggers," Spike said from behind Eris, making her jump "big with the marrow-sucking."

"When did you get here?" she asked in surprise.

"I kicked that demon off you back in the training room" he looked confused.

"I didn't see you."

"I don't understand," said Tara's father.

Buffy crossed her arms and looked down at Tara "I'm not sure I do either."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Tara said softly, everyone looked at her "I was trying to hide" Willow rushed over and knelt before her girlfriend "I didn't want you to see what I am."

"Tara, what?" Willow asked.

Buffy uncrossed her arms and said, "what do you mean, what you are?"

"Demon," Tara's father said "The women in our family have a demon in them" he looked down at his daughter "her mother had it, that's where the magic comes from, we came to take her home before…well, before things like this started happening."

Giles walked over to Tara "You cast a spell on us to keep us from seeing your demon side" Tara started crying "That's why we couldn't see our attackers."

"Nearly got us killed" Buffy looked at Dawn.

Tara stood up "I'll go, I'm very sorry."

"The campers outside," her father said.

Willow stood up and gently grabbed Tara "Wait! Go? She just did a spell that went wrong, it was just a mistake."

Tara's dad turned to the witch "It's not the point and it's not your concern, she belongs with us, we know how to control her…problem."

Eris decided to step up "Now hold on just a minute" everyone turned to her "one, having demon blood is not a _problem_ , I have met some amazing, nice people who have demon blood" she was angry "and to treat her like this and raise her to hate that side is horrible, none of her fear would have been real if it weren't for you, who cares if she has a demon in her, she has a soul, she is kind and sweet and you want to take her away from a life that makes her happy? What kind of family does that, she doesn't need your help, she has friends that can help her and be there for her."

"How dare you-" the father began but was cut off.

Eris looked to Willow "do you honestly think that after years of being treated like a problem that it would be easy to tell you what she was?" Willow looked down at the floor "she was afraid that you would hate her, resent her."

Willow looked back up at Tara "Do you wanna leave?" she whispered.

"It's not your decision young lady."

"I know that!" Willow snapped, she looked back to Tara "Do you wanna leave?" Tara shook her head.

"You're going to do what's right, Tara, Know I'm taking you out of here before somebody does get killed" Willow glared at the man "The girl belongs with her family, I hope that's clear to the rest of you" he looked at Eris.

"It is," Buffy said, shooting a short look at Eris who nodded "You want her, Mr. Maclay? You can go ahead and take her" Eris walked up and stood beside Buffy "You just gotta go through us."

"What," the father asked.

"You head her," Eris said smugly "You wanna take Tara out of here against her will, you gotta come through us."

"And me!" Dawn said next, looking confident and determined.

"Is this a joke?" Mr Maclay stepped down the stairs "I'm not gonna be threatened by three little girls."

"You don't want to mess with us," Dawn said.

"She's a hair puller" Buffy nodded at her sister.

"And I know Kung Fu, I will whoop your ass back to your backward town" Eris looked menacing.

Giles stepped up "And, you're not just messing with three little girls."

"You're dealing with all of us," Xander said.

"Except me," said Spike.

"Except him" Xander pointed to him.

"I don't care what happens."

Eris looked at the father "he doesn't care but I'll kick his ass if he doesn't help" she smirked, "he's a master vampire by the way."

The father was getting angry "This is insane, you people have no right to interfere with Tara's affairs, we are her blood kin! Who the hell are you?"

"We're family."

Donny, Tara's brother, finally spoke up "Dad? You…you gonna just let-" he looked at his sister "Tara, if you don't get in that car I swear by god I will beat you down."

"God doesn't exist" Eris snapped "and if you touch her I'm cutting your hand off."

Xander nodded "And I swear by your full and manly beard you're gonna break something trying."

Tara's cousin stepped up "Well, I hope you'll all be happy hanging out with a disgusting demon."

Anya raised her hand "excuse me, what kind?"

"What?"

"What kind of demon is she? There's a lot of different kinds" Anya continued "some are very, very evil, and some have been considered to be useful members of society."

"what does it matter."

"Evil is evil."

Spike smirked, "ah, why don't I make this simple?" Spike strutted up and punched Tara right on the nose, he roared in pain.

"Hey!" Willow said angrily but then stopped and looked shocked "hey!"

"He hit my nose" Tara whimpered.

"And it hurt…him, I mean!" Willow said cheerfully.

Buffy turned back around "and that only works on humans."

"There's no demon in there," Spike said as he clutched his head "it's just a family legend, am I right? Just a bit of spin to keep the ladies in line? Huh, you're a piece of work, I like you."

"I'm not a demon," Tara said to Willow.

"You're not a demon."

"He hurt my nose."

"Mr. Maclay I'd say your business here is finished," said Giles.

"Tara, for 18 years your family has taken care of you and supported you, if you wanna turn your back-"

"Dad" Tara cut her father off gently "Just go" the father walked out but Tara's cousin remained.

"Are you happy now?" she said snidely.

"I'm sorry" Eris walked up and punched Tara's cousin in the nose "you sound like a bitch and I don't like you, buh bye now!" the woman ran out to her cousin and uncle, Eris turned around to see amusement on everyone's faces "sorry…what she said about demons annoyed me, Tara's too sweet to be evil."

Everyone agreed and got ready for Tara's party. Eris stepped out and raced after Spike "Wait up!"

Spike turned around, still holding his head in his hand "what is it? I'm in a little pain here."

"Exactly why I followed you" she gave him a smile "I'd say you are definitely, completely and fully forgiven now."

He looked at her in surprise "really?"

"Yeup, you caused yourself pain just to help Tara" she leaned up and kissed his cold cheek with her warm lips making him even further surprised "thank you" she waved goodbye and ran off, leaving the stunned vampire.


	8. Chapter 8

The Scooby Gang, minus Buffy who got stabbed the night before, were patrolling with Riley and Eris – well, more like they were standing behind them casually whilst examining them. Riley was taking patrolling like a military operation, Eris, on the other hand, walked behind with her hands in her pockets. She usually traded jokes and light teases with Buffy when they went out patrolling, so she was bored. Riley was being too serious, and the trio were too distracted.

Her mind wandered to other things besides the business of slaying, it moved towards bleach blonde hair and icy blue eyes. Spike. He was an anomaly she wanted to crack, he was suave, confident and deadly on the exterior but on the inside, he was not. She considered herself slightly skilled in Kinesics and Oculesics, the study of body language. While she could not interpret what his mind was thinking she could tell he hides many things behind a veil of confidence, a softer side was hidden that he never wanted to reveal. Perhaps it was against a vampire code to be soft, that all vampires were supposed to be evil and deadly was a must. She felt a small amount of pride and specialness when she was with Spike for his walls dropped slightly, he was still aloof and confident but his edges softened around her, he allowed himself to share his thoughts, that and she may be the only person on earth that knows he watches Passions, that must mean he is a romantic at heart, and that is something a vampire is allowed to be.

She used to have long conversations about vampires with Angel when she used to live in LA, though he felt uncomfortable talking about vampiric romance ideals he still shared them with her. A vampire can love stronger than all humans, as they had no soul to occupy them with morals. It was easy for a vampire to fall in love yet they were still wise in their choosing of said person. She wondered if Spike had managed to fall in love with someone else besides his precious Drusilla, a woman he still held affection for despite her horrible actions towards him.

For some strange reason, she was drawn to him, sure she's always had an attraction to bad boys but he was…dark, and she had always been obsessed with the dark. She was addicted to chaos, she had control over her crazy side but sometimes…sometimes, she liked to let go, and he was there when she did. They have gone out hunting multiple times and they had a blast, slaying by herself was fun but with Spike…it was like fire, she loved danger and he was the embodiment of danger, his face was literally a weapon.

She was broken out of her deep thoughts by Riley, who held up a hand to silence them. She knelt beside him and he pointed to an 80s-looking rock vampire "there, that's the guy that hurt Buffy."

"Let's go" Eris whispered, urging the group to move. They hurried across the cemetery, their footsteps were light yet rushed as they followed each other in a singular line. They followed the vampire to where his base of operations was, cheers sounded from inside.

"Sounds like a party in there" Xander commented.

Riley shook his head "forget about crashing, there's too many in there, we'll come back at daybreak when they're asleep and we're better armed" the group was silent "it's ok, we'll get 'em, they'll be just as dead in the morning."

"Then we need to move before they smell us" the group nodded and they rushed off.

* * *

Spike was livid, beneath her, she said. How in the world did the Slayer know about his obsession with Eris, they were talking/fighting, what they were doing was innocent enough, then when the conversation ended she suddenly turned the conversation to Eris. BENEATH HER! He bloody well was not!

It was the same all over again, women trampling all over him, it was the same when he was human! He became a vampire to rise above everyone, and now the bloody Slayer has thrown that out the window. He was going to kill her this time, screw getting a massive headache, one double barrel to the head and the Slayer would be dead, he'd be in pain for hours but it would be worth it.

He rushed over to the Summers home, determined to end the stupid little bint before his rational mind came back. Instead, all the anger rushed away when he saw Eris sitting on the stairs of the back porch, crying into her arms. He stood before her and waited for the ravenette to notice him "what's wrong?" he asked when she looked up at him, her wine-coloured eyes bloodshot and puffy, he felt out of place and uncomfortable.

"I don't want to talk about it" she whispered, eyes looking down at the floor. Spike was in uncharted territory but he felt the sudden urge to comfort the woman. With slow movements, he sat beside her and began patting her back, she sniffled and laid her head on his shoulder. Taking initiative, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, comforting her silently. They both sat there for most of the night, neither saying a thing, just taking comfort in each other.

Neither were beneath each other, as of right now, they were equals.

* * *

It was quiet, too quiet. Siblings were not arguing, Joyce was not scolding and Eris was not cracking jokes. They were sitting, waiting at the hospital whilst Joyce got her cat scan, Buffy was comforting Dawn and Eris was comforting them both. They've never lost someone before, neither have they had the maybe or the fear of losing someone, Eris on the other hand, has. She lost a friend in LA, that may be why she was so tense when Tara's family was talking about her demon blood being disgusting, her lost friend was a half demon and was a gift to the world.

They were all impatient, wanting to know the answer right away. Riley had shown up and brought comfort to Buffy before she went into the examination room to find out what's wrong with Joyce.

A shadow.

Joyce had a shadow on the brain, which scared both the summers girls, it could be harmless or, it could be the opposite of that. Either way, it was scary.

They waited for even longer until it was late in the day only to find out something worse.

The shadow was a brain tumour, Joyce could lose her eyesight, lack of appetite and memory loss, and even extreme head pains. Nearly 1 out of 3 patients can survive, it did not give much hope to the girls. Eris stood up and told Buffy she would head to the Magic shop, not wanting to be in the hospital any longer, she needed a distraction, a big one. Joyce may not have been her birth mother but she was still a mother figure, she was a pure gem in this horrible, dark world and didn't deserve to be burdened with such a terrible thing yet the powers that be were not so kind.

Buffy had caught up to Eris and told her of her plan to use a spell on Mrs. Summers, the ravenette didn't agree but she wasn't going to tell Buff that, perhaps Giles and the others might know something to help Joyce. When they explained the plan to everyone they were wary, mixing spells and medicine tended to end badly. "Besides we've already gotten ourselves into enough trouble already?" said Xander.

"What?" Buffy asked in a serious tone.

"Ah nothing, Anya…Broke a bibbity Bobbuty thingy, don't worry about it" Xander lied.

"I did not, I di-"

Giles cut of Anya, saying, "they don't near to hear about your…clumsiness right now."

"What happened?" Buffy demanded, she saw through their lie.

"Nothing to concern you."

"It is if you guys are lying so hard which makes it incredibly obvious" Eris shot back "we're not stupid guys, tell us what happened."

Giles hesitated before speaking "the uh, the demon woman was here, the one who attacked you" Buffy and Eris' eyes widened.

"It's no biggy," Willow said quickly "she just got an amulet and a bloodstone."

"That can create a monster."

"Ok, biggy."

"Oh god a-are you guys ok though? I mean, no one got hurt right?" Buffy rushed out.

"No no, thankfully no violence to speak of" Apparently Giles sold the objects to the demon woman.

1000 years ago, in Egypt, there was a cult who stayed in the temple of Sobek, a reptile demon, and the Sobekai were worshipers of said demon. Their high priest Coal had powerful mystic powers, he forged an amulet that had a transmogrifying stone, the demon woman was going to transmogrify a cobra into a monster. Buffy was panicking and rushed out of the Magic Shop, determined to defeat this woman once and for all.

Eris found herself in front of Spike's door, she had left the Magic Shop shortly after Buffy had gone after the demon woman. She didn't know why she was here, he had comforted her last night in an awkward manner yet, he had calmed her better than anyone else could. She knocked on the door and waited for him "What's up pe-" she cut him off by wrapping her arms around him, hugging him tightly "what's wrong?"

"I just…" she took a ragged breath and pressed her face into his chest, Spike brought a hand up and stroked her messy hair "I need you right now…sorry I-"

"Shh, no need to say anything" he pulled her into his crypt and closed the door behind them "let it all out" he picked her up and carried her to his couch, he sat down and pulled her into his lap. As she cried he remained silent, content to hold her in his arms like he had longed for. His obsession was overwhelming, just earlier that day he braved the harsh sunlight that could roast him alive just so he could sneak into her room and take in her addictive scent. He would watch her from her backyard, see her silhouette as she changed, sometimes he would sneak up to her window and watch her sleep until just before the sun rises.

She was like a drug, whenever he couldn't have his fix he needed more. She overwhelmed his desire for blood, that which all vampires crave. As quietly as he could he breathed in her scent, a mix of buttermilk and honey. He stayed perfectly still, even after she fell asleep. He'll stay until sunrise, he'll let her sleep. It's all for her, though in his mind it was all for him.


	9. Chapter 9

Everyday Eris was at the hospital, spending family time with the Summers, watching soap operas and reading trashy magazines with Joyce. At night she was at Spike's, she and the vampire had returned to their routine of watching Passions, talking and fighting bad guys. It was so easy to fall back into their friendship, she was never one to hold a grudge, she was more of a be angry for a week or less and then forgive the person. Unfortunately, that could sometimes be detrimental because some people did not deserve to be forgiven. It was strange but she took comfort in the vampire, when she felt terrible or just needed someone he was her first thought, she went straight to him. She had people that she should have gone to, people who knew her better, like Buffy. Instead, she preferred Spike, his vast knowledge, and standoffish personality made her feel calmer, normal.

Everyone was on edge about Joyce, all of the Summers, including Eris, skirted around each other. And her friends, they never wanted to talk about it, they didn't want to comfort anyone as they themselves wanted to be comforted. Spike on the other hand, as much as he liked Joyce and enjoyed her company, he wasn't as emotional or as torn up as everyone else, he was more interested in being around Eris and keeping her distracted and as happy as she can with everything going on.

It turns out that Riley had been frequently visiting a vampire feeding house, a place where humans go to get off on getting bitten, and for vampires to feed without killing someone and getting staked by the Slayer, too bad Spike had taken Buffy there. The following night Riley was gone, he went with the initiative and left Buffy, it broke the Slayer's heart that she couldn't keep him, he had left her without a goodbye.

Buffy's pain was immense, it was so strong that the others could feel it, could see it in her eyes. She had so much support yet she suffered alone, no one could understand, not even Eris, the most understanding person she knew. She handled her emotions as she normally did, by getting lost in her slayer duties, doing nothing else but killing all that dwells in the darkness. The others let her go as there was no way they could convince her to stop, that and it wasn't the first time she had done this.

She also got lost in researching the demon woman, Glory. She wanted her gone so Dawn could be safe, Giles had gone to England to the Watcher's council to find something out about Glory. Eris had taken a job and worked under Anya, she allowed the ex-demon to be the boss so she could be happy, the others helped but as they all had jobs/ classes they couldn't skip. Eris did nothing so she spent all day at the shop, listening to what Anya told her to do and making sure people returned/ apologized when Anya did something wrong. Anya hated it but when Eris reminded her that she was the boss and was the only person to touch the money, she backed off and returned to being happy.

It seems that whenever Giles is gone trouble doubled, Anya's ex-husband, who she turned into a troll, had been teleported to Sunnydale and destroyed everything. They were able to defeat him and Willow had sent him to another dimension. Giles had come back 3 days later and was unsuccessful in finding any information on Glory or Dawn.

A few weeks later the Watchers council was coming into town, they had apparently found some information regarding Glory and Dawn. Buffy and Eris were wholeheartedly against them coming here since they had tried to kill Buffy when she was Faith and they put her through a test that almost killed her.

They had come to town to review the Slayer and her life, her friends, family, and the methods in which she kills. No one was happy about it. The council threatened to shut down the Magic shop and have Giles deported, never to set foot back in America again unless Buffy did exactly what they told her to.

Eris was annoyed by the Watchers, they asked her about the relationship with Buffy, what role she played in the Slaying business and the skills she possessed. They tried to make her tell them that Buffy was incompetent as a Slayer, that she needed help. She was pissed off but she could not do anything because they would use it against her. After they were done she travelled over to Spike and saw three Watchers interrogating him, one had a cross, another held a crossbow and lastly was a woman asking questions. "You better watch out, your crossbow guy has sweaty fingers" she commented as she walked over to Spike "enjoy the attention hun?"

"Never better pet" Spike smirked at her.

"What is your relationship with Mr. Spike?" the woman asked, jealousy in her tone.

Eris shared a look with Spike "Oh we're lovers" she leaned up and kissed Spike's cheek, he smirked smugly and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to his side.

"We have hot, kinky sex" he replied.

"We fuck like rabbits, or we have wild hot monkey sex, sometimes both" the watcher trio were blushing.

"And the Slayer is fine with you having this relationship with the vampire that has killed two of her predecessors."

"No, she hates Spike but my love for him is too strong" she gave him a cutesy smile.

"Well, that is all the questions we have, thank you for your time" the trio scurried off.

Eris stepped away and turned to Spike who was mourning the loss of heat "Sorry if that was sudden, I've been wanting to do something all day."

"Got to you already did they?" Spike asked.

"Yeah, it was very hard not to punch them in the face" she huffed in amusement "do you mind if I hang out here for a while, I'm pretty sure they're still at home and I don't want to do something stupid."

"Sure, if you're patient we can watch Passions later on, right now though I need to sleep" she nodded.

"Of course, I might crash on your couch for a bit" she walked over to his couch and snuggled herself into the corner, she closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep.

Spike stayed still, he wanted to sleep but he wanted to watch her, so he did both. He watched her until her breathing slowed then went to his coffin bed and took a nap, he was still aware of his surroundings so he allowed himself to be lulled into a peaceful state by Eris' breathing and strong beating heart.

The duo was jolted awake when the door was slammed open, they both jumped up and got ready for any danger but when the saw a head of blonde hair they relaxed "oh, it's the slayer" Spike said exasperatedly "for a second there I was worried."

"What are you guys to here?" Eris asked, referring to Dawn and Joyce.

"What's with the family outing?"

"I need your help" replied Buffy.

"Great, I need your cash."

"I'm serious, you have to look after them, Eris included."

Spike was surprised "well, that's a boatload of manly responsibility flying out of nowhere, what's the matter, Slayer? You're not feeling 100%?"

"No."

"They didn't put a chip in your head did they?" he sounded genuinely concerned by that.

"No, Spike I need an answer now, in or out" she simmered down "you're the only one strong enough to protect them."

"Buffy, what's wrong?" Eris asked worriedly.

"Glory" was her short reply "Spike?"

The bleach blonde took a moment before replying "alright then" he turned to the other two Summers "come on in, there's plenty of blood in the fridge."

"Do you mean like, real blood?" Dawn asked whilst looking disgusted.

"What do you think" Spike replied sarcastically.

"Mostly I think eww."

Eris snorted "he's a vampire Dawnie, I don't think he would have frozen chips in there."

Buffy walked up to Spike threateningly "I don't think I have to remind you-"

"Yeah yeah, if anything happens to them I'll stake you good and proper" Spike sounded bored "send me a new one next time eh? That bits gone stale" Buffy glared at him and walked out the door, leaving everyone standing around silently.

"I love what you've…neglected to do with the place," Joyce said awkwardly.

"Just don't break anything" Spike replied as he walked off.

"You know I gave him cleaning supplies and I cleaned this place once but it just got dirty again" Eris walked over and sat on his couch.

"And don't make a lot of noise, Passions is on" he turned on his Tv and turned to Eris "move."

"Make me" Spike pulled her up and sat down on his couch.

"Passions?" Joyce asked as she hurried towards the Tv "Oh, do you think Timmy's really dead?"

"Oh, no no, she can just sow him back together, he's a doll for god's sake."

"What about the wedding? I mean there's no way they're gonna go through with that."

Eris snorted "you know they won't, they will get to the damn thing and something will happen" whilst Joyce and Spike sat on each arm of the couch, she sat down on the floor between Spike's legs, letting his fingers comb through her hair distractedly. Dawn moved to the Spike's bed and sat on top, feeling incredibly bored.


	10. Chapter 10

Glory was a God.

That was something no one wanted to hear, to be honest, it was something that they never thought about. Glory was one of the 3 gods that ruled over the deadliest demon dimensions that were trying to get into the human world. The God absorbs the essence that contains the human mind, leaving the person insane.

Giles, Buffy, and Eris finally told the rest of the group that Dawn was the key. They were shocked but nothing changed, they still cared for Dawn greatly and agreed to keep her safe. After that being around Dawn was quite awkward, they no longer treated Dawn like they used to. Buffy, Giles, and Eris still did but that was because they were better at being composed.

It was Buffy's birthday and the group decided to celebrate with a small party, just the Scooby gang. Dawn was becoming incredibly suspicious, and frustrated. She felt like no one wanted her around and treated her differently. She didn't understand why everyone was being so rude and awkward, so she snuck out to steal from the Magic Shop. What she found was terrible, she was the key, the thing that Glory wants. She wasn't human, she wasn't supposed to be alive, she was a thing, a bright, glowing orb of energy.

When she returned home she had slit her wrists, asking what she was. The Summers family decided it was time to tell her about what she was, it was hard to talk to her, as she felt like they were forced to love her, that it was their duty to care for her. It was hard for the family, to suddenly be so strongly hated by Dawn, to see her suffering, on the precipice of suicide.

The sweet brunette had lost it, her mind cracked. She destroyed everything that had memories, and feelings attached to it. She felt so lost she left her family, thinking it was better to be alone than surrounded by people who didn't really care for her.

The group split up to search for Dawn, Spike and Eris would travel together. Xander went with Giles, Willow went with Tara and Anya stayed in the shop. Buffy wandered off alone "I don't know where she would be," Eris said stressfully.

"Wouldn't she go where it makes her comfortable?" Spike offered.

Eris shook her head "no, the last thing she would want to do is go somewhere that makes her remember she's not human" she ran a hand through her hair, sighing in frustration.

"She'll be fine" Spike walked closer to her, trying to give off comfort.

The group met up at the cemetery, none of them found her. They went to the hospital in case she was checked in.

Glory was there, standing right over Dawn. Once again, the Slayer and God got into a fight, well more like they tried to fight, she was a god after all. "Time to start dying" Glory pointed a crowbar at Dawn "start with the welp."

"No, you fucking won't!" Eris shouted.

"Dawn!" just as the crowbar went flying so did Buffy, instead of the brunette being pierced by the weapon the Slayer did.

"Buffy!" Eris shot down and helped to pull the crowbar out of her chest.

"Nice catch, is that the best you crap-gnats can muster? Cause I gotta tell you, so not impressed" Glory walked forward slowly, threateningly, the promise of a gruesome death was in her gait "Hey!" she shouted when Tara and Willow threw a handful of silver powder over her form "Look what you did to my dress, you little-"

" _Discede_ " with a clap of her hands, Willow made the God disappear.

"What did you do to her?" Buffy asked as she clutched Dawn to her.

"Teleportation spell," Willow said breathlessly, a trickle of blood ran down her nose " it's tricky, still working out the kinks."

"Where'd you send her?"

"Don't know" Willow replied, "that's one of the kinks."

Eris raced over and helped Spike up, checking the back of his head for any injury as he was thrown across the room by Glory "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, heads all scrambled" Spike shook his head, "I thought the skank wouldn't be so tough" Eris snorted.

"What do you expect, she's a God" Eris dusted off his leather jacket.

"She's tiny for a God, thought she'd be bigger, scarier" Eris nodded, when she saw Buffy and Dawn standing up she raced to them and joined in on their hug.

"Never scare me like that, please Dawnie" Eris hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry."

"I love you so much Dawn, my love for you isn't fabricated, its genuine" she leaned back and stroked Dawn's soft hair.

"You mean it?"

"Of course I do, in here" she placed a hand on her heart "my heart cannot be forced to love someone, it's my heart that's gonna protect you, it's gonna make sure that Glory never uses you or hurts you ever again" Dawn sniffled and hugged Eris again, feeling immense joy in her heart.

She wasn't fake, she was real, she was alive, and she was loved.

* * *

Spike was getting restless, nights of smelling Eris' clothes and watching her sleep were not enough for him now, he wanted more -no- he needed more. He needed her badly, mind, body, and soul yet she never acted like she was interested. Then again, it was hard to tell if she was interested in anything. Eris was a flirter, flirts with anything on two legs, even him so it was difficult to determine whether she was interested or attracted to him. She was also an intimate and caring person, she would hug anyone and kiss someone to say hello, so he never thought her affectionate kisses and hugs meant anything.

Then Buffy had to come along, it seemed that everyone knew about him being in love with Eris, everyone but said woman. He hated when the Slayer would tell him he was way out of Eris' league. She didn't believe that his love for the ravenette was real, that vampires could never grow such feelings.

He stepped into his crypt in a dampened mood after his stakeout with Buffy, once again she told him he could never be with Eris. He slammed the door behind him and rubbed at his eyes "whose there?" he asked when he felt a presence.

"A happy memory" came the sweet, soft reply. Then, out of the shadows stepped his beloved Drusilla "here to make everything right again."

"So, let me get this straight" he began after Drusilla told him everything "Darla got her mojo back from the beyond, you vamped her and now you and her are working to get Angel back to how he was" she hummed in reply "sounds fun."

"It is, like lollypops in the circus," she said in her dreamy voice "although, didn't care for Angelus setting us on fire" she touched her scars gently.

"And this had got you what, all nostalgic now is it?"

Drusilla glided towards him "I want us to be a family again my William" she pressed her lips to his ear and whispered seductively "come back with me."

"To Los Angeles?" he asked "I've done the whole LA scene, Dru, didn't agree with me" he stepped away from the enchanting woman "besides, I've got a sweet little set up here in SunnyD, decent digs, not to mention" he sat on his couch "all the tasty townies I can each."

"Naughty, shh" she teased "you know not to make up stories, I already know why you're not coming" she reached her hands up to her head "poor boy, tin soldiers put funny little nit knacks in your brain, can't hurt, can't hunt, can't kill" she looked at him intently "you've got a chip."

Spike once again stepped away from Dru "right, so you've heard, poor Spikes become a…a cautionary tale for vampires, right, you better be good kiddies or they might wire you up someday" he kicked a broken fence in anger.

"I don't believe in science," Drusilla said strongly "all those bits and molecules no one's ever seen, all just hearts and minds alone" she swayed up to him, seductively, slowly "and you know what mines singing out? Right now" she placed Spike's hand on her chest, right over her heart "You're a killa" she whispered "you want to slash and bash, and bleed like beautiful poetry" Spike pulled her against him, creating a passionate aura around them "no little tinker toy could ever stop you from flowing."

"Yeah" his mind raced back to him "but the pain, love you don't understand it's, it's searing, blinding."

Drusilla reached up and touched the top of his head "all in your head, I can see it, little bits of, plastic, spider webbing out nasty blue shocks, and everyone is a lie, electricity lies Spike, it tells you-you're not a bad dog but you are."

"What the heck is this!"

"Oh, bloody hell" Spike turned around and looked at an enraged Harmon.

"Who is-" she stopped "oh wait, I get it, our little sex game is just the beginning, now you've gone and picked up some cheap queen of the damned to dress up like your precious Drudzilla."

"Harm-"

"You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking cause my answer is the same as always, no threesomes unless its boy, boy, girl, or Charlize Theron."

"Harm, you moron, this _is_ Drusilla."

"Oh, well" she marched over to the female master vampire "you've got some nerve showing up here like this, after all this time, after breaking my sweet boo-boos heart" Drusilla looked at Spike in amusement and mouthed the words 'boo boo' "Do you have any idea how hard it's been to break down the walls he put up after you left? I mean serious trust issues."

"Harm-"

"So its no use you crawling back to him cause Spikey don't play that game anymore Mautitia" she turned around to Spike only for him to grab her by the throat.

"It's been fun while it lasted Harm, but I think it would be best now if you hit the road" he threw her into the wall behind him.

"Why?" she asked whilst clutching her throat "because she's back?"

"No, because I am" he pulled Drusilla against him

"And here you are, my darling, deadly boy."

* * *

Eris walked into Spikes crypt when she didn't hear him, he was usually home at this time as that was when Passions was on the Tv "Spike?" she called out "you home?"

"Yeah, I am" she turned with a smile but it dropped when she was zapped, she gasped and fell to the floor, hitting her head and blacking out "no more playing" he turned and looked at Dru who was also laying on the floor, unconscious.

Eris groaned as she came to, her head was throbbing in pain and her eyes felt heavy "there she is" she opened her eyes and noticed she was standing, chained by the wrist to two pillars "was beginning to think you'd sleep the night away pet."

"What are you doing?" she asked softly, her head still hurting, Spike moved to the side to show Drusilla bound against a thick pipe "Drusilla?" she had never seen the vampiress but it was not hard to tell who she was by her outfit alone.

"Not nice to change the game mid-play Spike," Dru said with a pout "you've taken my chair and the music hasn't stopped."

"Sorry pet," he said to Dru "my house, my rules."

"I think I should be very cross with you when I'm free again."

"What's going on?" Eris demanded, no longer confused, now she was angry.

"Simple. I'm gonna prove something" he stepped in front of Eris, forcing her to look into his intense, icy blue gaze "I love you."

"What-" she snorted "no you do-"

He grabbed her chin when she went to look away "look at me, _I love you_ , you're all I bloody think about, dream about, you're in my gut, my throat, I'm drowning in you Vanzetti I'm drowning in you" Drusilla started cackling madly "could do without the laugh track, Dru."

"But it's so funny," she said in amusement "I knew, before you did, I knew you loved the shadow, whispers in my head whispered it to me."

"You can't tell me there isn't anything there between you and me" he turned back to Eris "I know you feel something."

"And this is how you ask me?" Eris asked in disbelief.

"You still don't believe, don't think I mean it, you want proof, how's this" he turned and grabbed a stake, with confident strides he moved to Drusilla and placed the stake right above her heart "I'm gonna kill Drusilla for you" Dru cackled.

"Killing your ex-doesn't prove anything" Eris shot back.

"Don't mock this, this is Drusilla girl!" he yelled "you have the slightest idea of what she means to me? It's the face of my salvation" he turned back to the enchantress "she delivered me from mediocrity, for over a century we, we cut a swath through continents, 100 years she never stopped surprising me" he stroked her pale, silken skin "never stopped taking me to new depths. I was a lucky bloke, just to touch such a black beauty" he brought the stake back up "so don't you see, it means something."

"As romantic as this sounds it makes me feel like you'd do that to me if you found someone else" Spike looked to the human woman that held his affection and stalked over to her.

"If you don't admit that there's something there, some tiny feeling for me, I'll untie Dru, and let her kill you instead."

"Yes please," Dru said cheerfully "I like that game much more."

"Just, give me something," he said softly "a crumb, a barest smidgen, tell me, maybe, something of a chance" he walked up to her so he was in whisper hearing range.

"Spike," she said sweetly "I'm gonna let you suffer for tying me up."

Spike expression turned dark, he roared angrily and threw the stake against the wall "WHAT THE BLEEDING HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU BLOODY WOMEN! WHAT THE HELL DOES IT TAKE, WHY DO YOU BITCHES TORTURE ME!"

"Which question do you want me to answer first?" Eris was unfazed by his anger, determined to make him suffer.

"I-I'm at the end of my bleeding tether, you know, I-I don't know why I even bother, you know, it's your fault" he pointed at Dru "you're the one to blame for all this you know."

"Am I?" she replied dryly.

"BLOODY RIGHT YOU ARE! IF YOU HADN'T LEFT ME FOR THAT CHAOS DEMON I NEVER WOULD HAVE COME BACK HERE! NEVER WOULD HAVE HAD THIS SODDING CHIP IN MY SKULL!" he turned to Eris "And you, wouldn't be able to touch me because this, with you is wrong, I know it, not a complete idiot" Eris furrowed her brow "you think I like having you in here, destroying everything that was me till all that's left is you in a dead shell, you know what I should do, I should get rid of both of you" he turned to Dru who was shaking her head "burn you, cut you up into little bits so there won't be any bits to-" he was cut off by an arrow stabbing his back, he fell to the floor.

"Spike!" Eris gasped in surprise, she looked behind him and saw Harmony holding a crossbow.

"What about me Spike? You forget about me again? The actual girlfriend."

"You're dating Harmony?" Eris felt a bad taste in her mouth.

"I gave you, some of the best bunch of months in my life" Harmony walked up and smashed Spike in the face with the crossbow.

"That's right little girl," said Drusilla "teach our naughty boy a lesson."

"Can you hit him a couple more times please" Eris encouraged.

"Oh so you're all ganging up," said Spike.

"I thought I could change you Spike" Harmony continued "I thought maybe if I gave and I gave and gave and gave maybe you'd come around, maybe be a little nicer, stop treating me like your dog" she notched another arrow "but now I see it's you, you're the dog who needs to be put-" Spike rushed up and tackled Harmony, he punched her in the face and threw the crossbow away, Eris used the distraction to try yanking on the chains, hoping the walls were so brittle that she could yank the chains off them, unfortunately, it seems that Drusilla thought of the same idea as she managed to get untied faster than Eris did. When the vampire was free she raced over to the chained woman and started to attack her, Eris did her best to block and hit the woman back but with her limited movement, it was a struggle. Drusilla had managed to grab her by the throat, Spike rushed in and threw Dru off, he quickly grabbed the key out of his pocket and unlocked her chains.

"Poor Spike" Dru said sadly "so lost, even I can't help you now" she looked like she was about to cry so she turned and walked away.

"Oh Spikey," said Harm, Eris rolled her eyes "you can say goodbye to this" she pointed to her ass "because you're not gonna see it anymore unless you run into me somewhere and it's me walking away from you, but even then, I'll probably just…you know, back away" she did just that and left the room.

"My ass is better" Eris muttered to herself before turned to Spike and punched him in the face.

"Ow! What the hell!" he shouted whilst he clutched his nose.

"That's for tying me up, you didn't have to be so dramatic" she crossed her arms over her chest.

"And what was I supposed to do then?" he demanded.

"Oh, I dunno, go to me and ask 'hey I love you, I hope you love me, do you wanna be a couple?" Spike looked surprised "or just walk up to me a kiss me passionately, that would have told me everything, and I probably would have said ye-" she was cut off by Spike doing just that, kissing her passionately. She quickly succumbed to the pleasure and kissed him back just as passionately, her arms came up and wrapped around his neck, clutching his bleach blonde hair. She moaned slightly when he pulled her against his body. They pulled away and looked into each other's eyes.

"So, I love you, I hope you love me, do you wanna be a couple?" he asked with a hopeful smile.

"If you kiss more passionately than you just did then It's a definite yes" Spike smirked and swooped down, capturing her lips in another, searing kiss.

 **Finally.**


End file.
